my mom recently reminded me that when i was in 5th grade my teacher would periodically report to her that i was "sneaky" because i would ask to use the bathroom during class and instead go retrieve things from my locker that i had forgotten to bring with me

and even at the time she thought this was ridiculous and obviously not representative of an intrinsically deceitful nature, fortunately for me. but it's really extra ridiculous looking back on it now as a 28-year-old research professional who has to double back into the room i just left for some combination of gloves, tube rack, ice bucket, or samples at least once a day, a quality absolutely no one cares about or would ever make me justify to another person and which i therefore don't have to tell contrived lies about

What is a Monday? A miserable little pile of obligations.

semester turnover restructure

generate/send out error reporting

figure out how to separate out unique counts

create polite reply to Massive Dick Move email

finish the bad book >:(

bò kho (not an obligation. dinner)

laundry

lizard bath

local man also manages to complete the very basic responsibilities assigned to him at his other job that he has zero energy to do all week despite them being very urgently due tomorrow, through the power of coffee, a testosterone shot, and standing outside in the night air for ten minutes without a phone. ama

i have ALL DAY (until 5pm) to myself, with only minor household responsibilities to see to. delighted. i'm gonna think about star trek nonstop until then or until my dopamine receptors simply burn out of existence whichever comes first

5 things I never get tired of writing (tag)

I got tagged by @365runesoftheamalgamations who seems VERY lovely. Hello thank u :)

(but it's 1:00 AM and brain does not think coherently)

Rules: share 5 things I never get tired of writing, be it a trope, theme, character, phrase, or any other aspect of storytelling I will forever find enjoyable

Horror Dahlia was SO fun and as soon as I'm done writing rosemary you bet the next project is going to be like that was. I just like putting my little guys through situations

Sibling characters The found family trope gets me. I could go on forever about this funny little guys in my head

Giving them animals sometimes I think that they deserve little animals. Ryan gets a cat in dahlia/rosemary, Jaxon gets a rat, Leo gets a cat by extension, Elliot gets a little family of bunnies, Dylan gets lizard, it's all fantastic

The number five If I have to make something a specific number, it will almost always end in a five. I have. a fixation on the number 5 This was really inconvenient when I made the character's birthdays AND when I make the chapter titles since they're all dates. I had to physically restrain myself from making EVERYONE 15 just because it's a Good number

Flower symbolism as obvious foreshadowing Call me what you will, a nerd, but I will DIE on my flower symbolism hill. There's one for every character, the stories are based on flowers, I sometime sprinkle in little flowers during important moments, it's good to have a theme going -Forget-me-nots symbolize true love + devotion, and also the whole memory thing lol -Dahlias symbolize commitment, black dahlias represent betrayal (which I'm choosing to associate both Jaxon Leo fights with) -Rosemaries symbolize remembrance. more memory stuff -The first Jaxon + Leo fight, Jaxon steps on a wolfsbane, which symbolizes danger apparently -Dreamworld Dylan is planting a red spider lily. Meaning is abandonment, death, and separation. This was going to be Dylan's flower (theirs is the iris now lol) this is symbolism for the rest of real Dylan's arc Logan- cymbidium Leo- rose Cass- sunflower Kai- peony Lily- gladiolus Jaxon- zinnia Marcy- hyacinth Dylan- iris Ryan- asphodel Sam- marigold Elliot- lily of the valley

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Tags: @fire-but-ashes-too @the-stray-storyteller @mynroli @toribookworm22 @kaiusvnoir

+open tag, no pressure, etc etc

Went out and did some fun stuff today w/ my family (back in town) and I ended up getting my grubby little hands on a Fidget Clicker Thingy shaped like a paint palette that gave me so many Ink vibes I just had to buy it.

these roots run real deep...

got really into painting fungus textures this week so I figured I'd do my wizard's (incomplete) family tree and uh, went a little overboard. it's fine it's what they deserve!

for a while now my boss has been constantly trying to tell me that I'm wrong about things that she doesn't understand and that make zero sense for her to challenge me on, and her go-to example for why she has plenty of reason to distrust my knowledge is a mistake I made right before I ended up on the hospital because my brain was getting pressurized again and fucking me up. she brings it up to me about once a week

this is unacceptable enough to talk to her boss about it, right? cause I already emailed him.

saw a post earlier that was like "i have a theory that fanfic is more literary analysis than creative writing" and i was like. i know exactly what you mean but thats not what im doing. love and light to you but i am doing a different thing than that

Poll adventure (paventure? lol) Day 10: read the small story tidbit below the poll for more details, OR just vote based on initial impression

(✦ see past poll results + further information HERE (link) ✦)

Yesterday's poll decided that The Adventurer should join the travelers on the larger river boat for a short lunch ...

~

"Before he even fully musters the courage to shout a 'hello', the large group on the boat initiates contact first, gleefully waving at him, whooping and shouting as they near his tiny raft in the water. Apparently, some of them were betting over whether they'd actually find any other travelers out on the river today.. He fumbles over his words a bit, as always, but somehow manages to successfully get himself invited onto their boat for a quick lunch..

After safely securing his raft to the side of the boat with some spare rope, he climbs aboard, stumbling into the excitement of some sort of celebration. A few of them explain that they're traveling for 'kahesallei', an old elven holiday recently re-popularized in some of the larger cities nearby. Whatever it's true meaning and origins used to be, the current significance (at least to those within the city walls) seems to just be mindless feasting, drinking, and gaudy decor. Most of the traveling group are strangers to each other, only brought together by catching a ride on the same tour/party boat, but the mood is light, quite friendly between them, and perhaps a bit drunk.

While the boat itself is relatively plain wood, it's been strewn with gold and orange banners, flags, shimmery tassels, beads, and bushels of dark green ivy braided with fresh herbs and wildflowers. There are flat round tables of food and drink, plenty of cushions to lounge on, and one random guy perched precariously on the edge railing of the boat, gently strumming a lute for background music..

The elderly ship captain hobbles over to The Adventurer, sternly explaining that, no matter what the 'silly' passengers say, he's only allowed to stay for an hour because he didn't pay for a boat ride ticket, and thus really shouldn't even be allowed on board. By the time The Adventurer has mentally processed this information, the captain has already returned to his little steering room, slamming the door shut with a displeased grunt.. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to confront him or question the rules...... But! Hey, at least he has one hour at the party.. How should he spend his time? "

~

Additional Information

the adventurer's current main goal: follow his map to reach the abandoned castle ruins and see the rare animal specialist about the mysterious egg he has

the truth is i actually get so insanely jealous

No need to worry, the screams of fury emanating from her room are just because she made the terrible decision to read someone else’s list of the ‘100 Best Classic Fiction Works in English’

save me local historical attraction

local historical attraction save me

*

me, two days ago: I don't know if I like Slay the Spire very much. Rogue-likes aren't really my thing, and there's some things about the game that annoy me...

me, today: [has played 5.5 hours of Slay the Spire just this afternoon.]